The present invention relates to an air conditioning control apparatus that controls the operation of an air conditioner mounted on an electric vehicle.
An air conditioner has been proposed which includes a so-called pre-air conditioning function that operates the air conditioner in advance to conduct air conditioning in a vehicle interior before getting on a vehicle, thereby ensuring comfort when getting on the vehicle. However, when the air conditioner having such a pre-air conditioning function is mounted on an electric vehicle having a travel battery as a travel driving source, the air conditioner implements pre-air conditioning to consume an electric power of the travel battery. Therefore, there is a risk that the amount of charge is reduced to decrease a travel distance. Under the circumstances, in the electric vehicle of this type, there has been proposed that when a battery charger mounted on the electric vehicle charges the travel battery with the use of an electric power supplied from an external power supply, the electric power from the external power supply is supplied to the air conditioner through the battery charger, and the pre-air conditioning is implemented, to thereby suppress a reduction in the amount of charge in the travel battery (refer to JP-A-5-147420).
Incidentally, two types of external power supplies described below are currently used in charging the travel battery for the electric vehicle.
1) A power supply (for example, 100V (15 A), 200V (15 A)) with a relatively small capacity which is supplied to residential outlets
2) A power supply (for example, three-phase 200V (50 kW) with a large capacity which is provided to a quick charger located in a battery charging station.
On the other hand, the air conditioner for the electric vehicle is normally equipped with a compressor that operates with an electric power, and therefore the electric power starts as soon as the air conditioning operation starts. When the electric motor starts, an inrush current several times to some dozens of times as large as a stationary current is generated. Accordingly, when the travel battery is charged by the aid of the former power supply with the relative small capacity, there is a risk that an excessive load is exerted on the residential power supply, for example, if the inrush current of the electric motor exceeds the capacity of the power supply. For that reason, there is a need to replace the capacity of the residential power supply with a large capacity sufficient to absorb the inrush current in advance. If the power supply with such a large capacity cannot be ensured, the pre-air conditioning cannot be conducted. Therefore, there is room for improvement in improving the convenience of a user.